Festivals in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Cambodia has numerous traditional festivals which are widely celebrate across the whole country. With the festivals falling in different months of the year, your visit to Cambodia will be enriched with many cultural experiences. If you come to Cambodia in November, you’ll be able to join the water and moon festival which is celebrated annually to show gratitude of the Cambodian people toward water and the moon. One month later, another festival so-called sea festival is celebrated at Sihanouk province, a province located next to the sea. In February, comes the Chinese New Year. If you are in the city, you may think you were in China due to the immersive celebrations with fire and dragon dance. The biggest festival of year is The Khmer New Year which takes place in April. During this day every home is cleaned to welcome the guardian angel who comes to bless all Cambodian families. If you are at the countryside during the Khmer New Year, you may hesitate to choose between visiting tourist attractions or staying home for beer party with local villagers. During the New Year Festival, in some part of the country like Siem Reap, you can pour water on other people’s head as a blessing.

Top 6 Festivals in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Sea Festival: Sea festival is a festival celebrated to mark the importance of the sea.

Chinese New Year: As many Chinese have been settled in Cambodia, many Cambodians now are Cambodian-Chinese. So, the Chinese New Year is an important day for them to show the commemoration to their Chinese ancestor.

Village blessing Festival: This is the local festival. There’s no specific date for the festival but it’s normally celebrated after the harvest, in March or April.

Khmer New Year: Khmer New Year is one of the biggest festivals in the country. This festival has a link with the Hinduism.

Water and Moon Festival: Water and Moon Festival is a 3-day-festival celebrated to pay respect to the water and the moon.

Kathen Festival: Kathen is a Buddhist festival celebrated once a year in every pagoda in Cambodia. This festival is celebrated 1 day in October according to the people organizing the festival.

Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Siem Reap, Cambodia

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Highlighted Festivals in Siem Reap, Cambodia

Khmer New Year: Being one of the most important festivals of the country, Khmer New is a festival that gathers family members together. During this festival, many young Cambodians return home to meet up with their parents and grandparents. Some families visit holiday resorts such as temple and beach. And others stay home for family party. Traditionally, Cambodians who are Buddhist go to the pagoda every afternoon to listen to monks’ preach. During the day, many popular games are organized so that everyone can enjoy.

Water and Moon Festival: Water and Moon Festival gathers many Cambodians at the capital, Phnom Penh. During the 3 days of this festival, boat races are organized in the river in front of the royal palace. At the afternoon, the illuminated floats appear in the river replacing the boat races which give the participants magnificent scenery.